Noninvasive identification of carbon-based black pigments with pump-probe microscopy

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that pump-probe microscopy can noninvasively differentiate various carbon-based black pigments and their mixtures, revealing heterogeneity within supposedly homogeneous pigments, which enhances analysis in cultural heritage science.

Contribution

The paper introduces the use of pump-probe microscopy for noninvasive identification and differentiation of carbon-based black pigments and their mixtures in cultural heritage applications.

Findings

Pump-probe microscopy distinguishes four black pigments.

It detects heterogeneity in supposedly homogeneous pigments.

Effective for analyzing pigment mixtures in art conservation.

Abstract

Carbon-based black pigments, a widely used class of pigments, are difficult to differentiate with the noninvasive techniques currently used in cultural heritage science. We utilize pump-probe microscopy to distinguish four common carbon-based black pigments as pure pigments, as two-component black pigment mixtures, and as a mixture of a black and a colorful pigment. This work also demonstrates that even nominally homogeneous pigments present remarkable, and useful, heterogeneity in pump-probe microscopy.